cuervosueno

In the imp, this smelled much like the magician--herbal, slightly astringent, with a note of anise. On--yikes! anise overload! There is also something else in here, but that note really overwhelms. It kind of reminds me of the smell of the breath-freshening seeds you get at some Indian restaurants--anise seed and something else. But it doesn't strike me as The Chariot, which implies balance and mastery, because on me there is no balance, only that licorice scent I don't like. Its so strong it makes me wonder if the anise-note I got in The Magician was something more benign like hyssop. Not for me, and luckily it isn't a card I feel a great affinity to, so I don't have to get over the scent for ritual or meditation.

It smelled very green in the imp--herbal, slightly astringent. But on, what I got was a faint whiff of anise and lavender. I don't usually like anise, but this was soft and even the lavender isn't too overwhelming. After a few minutes, it blends together very nicely, and becomes a creamy slightly sweet blend, with just a hint of anise and lavender. Its quite lovely, and somehow mysterious. Fitting for the card, somehow.

A faint green in the imp, and when I put it on, that still carries over. At first I thought the rose I smelled was on my fingers from simply opening the Empress imp, but I don't think it was since I tried this on my other hand. I also get a bit of rose--just the tiniest hint. What this brings to mind is a garden, a huge formal garden with hedges and roses. Its just after dawn, so the garden is wet with dew. and perhas the Emperor looks out over his garden? I wouldn't have expected such a light, greenness from this card, but perhaps it is the Emperor in his most benign phase. and it makes sense in a way for there to be a bit of rose since he is the Empress' consort. eta: after an hour or so this turns very soapy on me. Not a great blend for me.

Forgive me for the brevity, but its rose. A nice rose--sort of greenish and fresh, but still rose. And I really don't like rose in perfume. I ended up not putting this on, because its so....rose. I'd tried this before and remember I couldn't bear it on me, even though I love this card. So I'm afraid I don't have much to add for my tarot circle review.

I love tea notes, so after regretting not buying this when it was up on the site, I bought a bottle from another forumite. I wish it worked. Its not bad, just not all that either. When I open the bottle I get green, and a sort of musty/funky note that I can't identify at all. Could be any of the ingredients, but it doesn't smell like any of them, including Oude, which I have a tiny bit of from DSH. Well, I put it on, and that musty note sticks. Ick! Luckily, after a few minutes it fades and the green note--which I assume is the bamboo--comes out in full force. I don't mind this stage. Funny thing is, though, it really smelled like citrus. I was at a friend's house and she thought so too--she said so what kind of citrus is in there, and me, sniffing like a fool and pretending I knew, said, uh....hmmm....let me think.....maybe yuzu? I was convinced there was citrus in there. But there isn't. Still, that's what I get--not citrus juice, but the bitter white pith of say a tangerine. Which has a citrus smell, but also a bitterness to it. I decided to try it again the next day, and put it on before my boxing class. Same thing, though while I was working out, that citrus scent wafted up to me. Overall, its nice enough, but I have other citrus scents I like better, so I might as well send this one back out into the world. I'm sorry I didn't get the green tea like I should have, but that's just a quirk of skin chemistry I guess.

I wanted this more for ritual work than anything, but I do enjoy the scent too. No cinnamon on me, though there is a bit of spice/heat that could perhaps be pepper--it reminds me of the white pepper in Three Witches. Mostly what I get is a serious blast of Dragon's Blood. In fact, at first that's all I got. No surprise there--it has DB's color, and both in the imp and on me it has that sweet spice that is almost floral. I didn't get anything else at all. but after awhile, another scent peeked through. I don't know what it is, but it is a floral, one that is slightly earthy, almost funky. Narcissus? I don't usually like Narcissus (so ok, I usually hate it) but it might give this slightly boggy floral scent. Or some sort of lily, I suppose. Reminds me of a bulb flower, which makes sense for the blend. Overall, its fairly one-dimensional on me, but since I got it for purposes other than perfume, that's fine. And interestingly, the first time I tried it was right before I took a much needed nap. I fell into a deep sleep and had a dream of being told to "not ignore the extraordinary, because though its fleeting, its real." And in my dream I suddenly saw a golden city, aflame with light, and beautiful red gold clouds above it. that disappeared in a flash, and I was left on a normal city street, pondering what I'd just seen. So though i had no ritual intentions when I tried Salamander, I think of that dream as a gift from the oil.

Huh. I was looking for an Imbolc/Candlemas scent, and I wanted a floral, which I never wear, but I thought I should for today. Grabbed Prague out of my frimps likely to be swapped pile, with no idea what it was. Opened it--smells green and floral--sure why not try it out? On, I lose the green smell--and the green was very much of thick green stems that ooze sap when you cut them. On the skin, it is more sweet, and I can see why people might note the gummybear edge, though on me it straddles the line between fresh flowers and candy. Then I looked it up and saw that it was crocuses, snowdrops and lilies! Absolutely perfect for this early spring holiday! I don't know that I'll want to wear it much, because it so sweet, but its perfect to scent my bath with today. As for smelling like Prague, well, not to me, but that's likely just my Prague experience which was definately darker. That would be good beer or hot mulled wine, pastries, something to bring to mind the Romany too...which I was mistaken for the entire time I was in Prague, which alas, made my experience less romance and more grit.

Why, oh why, did I feel I needed to try Mi-Go? I suppose because I love tea scents, love jasmine, thought pepper sounded good, and decided to turn a blind eye to the scents that SO don't work on me--ie. fruity or very floral scents. So I was given an imp as a freebie in a swap and was delighted to try it. But who said dirty nappy under a jasmine bush? Because that's what it smelled like to me in the imp. Oh, and add a wierd plasticky note. but I decided to put it on anyway, because sometimes I like a decent floral in the bath.... Good thing I'm going to take a bath soon to get this off. Poor Mi-Go, you're getting no love from me. I wish I got the tea etc. I do get some jasmine, and it is, thankfully, gaining power as the top notes fade, but boy, that opening blast of melony scent just about did me in. I should have known better. A number of fruity scents turn to rotting melon on me--I couldn't do Fee either. I'm sorry Mi-Go, but you're a No-go with me.

Dear City in the Sea-- I'm sorry, but you're just not for me. I know, I know, you can point out that I rarely like acquatic scents, so why did I want to flirt with you in the first place. and you're right, but I had to at least try, because you are very fresh scented, not so much marine, but like a spring-fed creek, fresh, cold and slightly sweet. But alas, it wasn't to be. We're just too different. You've hidden your violets away from me, except for a lingering sweetness, and you won't even let me get much of a whiff of wood either, or even kelp's tang. With me, you're a somewhat generic men's aftershave. I'm sorry for being a tease, but we must part ways.

Olympia--I love your Kitsune avatar! I wish I loved this oil. But I don't. I don't hate it either. Its all very light florals in the imp and on me, though after a few minutes a bit of plum creeps in to give it depth--like the fox face showing quick as a shadow beneath the lovely lady's face. But the plum doesn't stay, and while this is good for today--near Imbolc (I never know if it is the 1st or 2nd of Feb) because it does remind me of daffodils, its just too light for me. I like my fox-spirits to have a little more fox in them.... But I'll no doubt find a good home for it.

yeah, I'm mostly just echoing others, but Gluttony and Mitzvah for sure. I think Sugar Skull is more burnt sugar, which I know is just a subtle distinction, but... Still, I guess it would count as caramel. Midway had caramel notes to my nose, but it also had salty popcorn/funnel cake notes too. Hearth 05 has caramel top notes, but then also has that piney scent. I like caramel notes myself, but lately I've been swapping them away because I think I only need one caramel note perfume. I didn't try Trick or Treat, but I wonder if the candy corn scent might not be close? As for Bliss, it must depend on your skin chemistry. Its pure milk chocolate on me. And Fee was pure fruit on me!

Zombi smelled like beets to me, which smell like....dirt! and I agree about Jazz Funeral. also Ace of pentacles (though I know that one's hard to get as an imp to try), and didn't either King or Queen of Clubs have a dirt note? I'm not sure which, but I remember swapping them away because of it (I don't like the dirt notes myself). Sounded like Gnome might have it too from the reviews.

I think I might cross-post this to the tarot circular swap thread, since it involves that swap, but I thought I'd also bring it up here. I have a tarted (thus fairly old) imp of the World from the Lab. Its gorgeous--wood and cinnamon notes, and just very rich, spicey, and delicious. I've hoarded my little half-imp, and have considered buying a bottle. Then I got the Tarot swap, and as I was trying out Judgement, I thought, mmmm...this reminds me of the World, so I got that out of the swaps and put it on. It was absolutley not even remotely the same. The color in the decanted imp is the same, but this imp smells like very light, greenish, slightly soapy. No cinnamon (which is well-nigh overwhelming in my tarted imp version) and no wood. Odd, huh? Doesn't seem like this one could be an aging issue because it is SO different..... Like I said, I'll also mention this on the other thread, but thought I'd post here too in case anyone else had experience with The World...

Source: Tarot circle swap This is an interesting card for me. It doesn't show up often in a reading, but when it does, I feel good about it, because it seems to me to mean that a cycle has ended--often positively--and its time to think about it, learn from it, move on. This is the card of transformation and change, yet change that is rooted in the lessons and experiences of the past. I suppose I'm a bit surprised that the scent is so earthy, but it is also heady. Earthy because it absoultely smells like musk, and its a rich musk, so I defer to those with better judgement on musk who call it red musk (certainly the oil is rich red brown!). And while I can't absolutely pick out pachouli, I suspect its in here too. Maybe a sandalwood as well, though often BPAL sandalwood dominates a blend on me, and this isn't happening here. There is also something sweet and powdery in it, which could be the musk--which on me goes powdery. Or it could be amber as some others have suggested. I said this scent is also heady, and it is, but not in the light, soaring way I might have expected with this card (which to me would suggest a light, bright airy scent which this most definately is not). Its heady because its intoxicating--I keep sniffing my wrist and sighing with the beauty of it. It smells like the fragrant ash left after burning incense, and as I wear it, it turns a little sweeter, with something under there that might be floral. It reminds me a bit of the World, though when I put on the World from the decant circle, it was nothing like the version of the World I have....And I have a tarted version from the Lab. Well, I'll take that odd issue up elsewhere. Overall, Judgement is very lovely and I'm tempted to buy a bottle.

From the Tarot Circle Swap: I've never really connected with this card. For me it means a time of introspection and inactivity (possibly forced). When it shows up in a reading, I know whatever solution I'm hoping for won't be quick in coming, if it comes at all. So its not surprising, I suppose, that the first oil I try out of the circle I don't really "get" either. In the imp: sweet. apples? no, not quite. Sweet, slightly acquatic. On me: sweet and fruity but also very bubble-gum like. I've never actually smelled lotus, but I've read about it having a bubble-gum note on some people, so perhaps that's what I'm smelling? The smell is almost like a fake-berry note. I'm not taken with it. And this doesn't really change. Just a sort of plasticy, berry bubblegum scent. It doesn't recall the card to me at all, though when people said lotus that struck a chord, though only because one of my tarot decks--the herbal tarot--has quite a striking image of the Hanged Man upside down, drifting in a sea of kelp. Of course kelp and lotus aren't the same, but I could see there being something aquatic about the Hanged Man, especially since this is a card about hanging, waiting, drifting, thinking, not acting..... anyway, this one isn't for me.

Thanks to ultraviolet for posting the pic. of the bottle above....I got this in a swap and thus didn't get to see the bottle. I didn't buy this because I was really worried it WOULD smell like absinthe....which in my mind was going to be like anise which is an awful note for me. I should have read the ingredients more carefully, because while hyssop and angelica can both have slightly licorice notes, neither of them overwhelm with it. I say that because I absolutely adore Le Fee Verte, and I'm so glad I was able to swap the not so good Fee for 5 ml. of it. In the bottle it is very green and almost acquatic to my nose....like a lakeside in early summer--the cool smell of water, the waterplants still green and fresh at this time of the year, and the early-summer herbs growing in the cool shaded areas around the lakes. It smells very green, and I can't indentify any single notes except to say that there is an herbal quality to this that is not medicinal. It is also sweet from the vanilla and honey, but I don't get those as individual notes, just as a sweetness. On, I get the sugared citrus-like note others were mentioning. It is very familiar, and I know it is an herb. Ok, after a quick check I discovered that melissa is also called lemon balm! No wonder it is so familiar--I have a ton of this growing in my herb garden! (on other notes, ditany of crete is a type of oregano, and hyssop is in the anise family). That top note fades quickly as others noted, and then the other herbs start coming in: while I don't pick out individual notes anymore, I get a scent very similiar to walking in an herb garden, though it is always tempered with the sweetness of vanilla and honey. The musk is very subtle to me--it adds a base of sweetness, but doesn't overwhelm. In fact, unless I had the list of notes in front of me, I doubt I'd know it was in there. Overall, this is an incredibly complex blend. The refreshing green stage only lasts about an hour or so on me, and after that I'm left with something that is like Dorian but better--better because to me it is sweeter and more complex, more sophisticated and somehow, more feminine. When I smell it, I feel like I'm smelling a very complex, haunting perfume, and I'm aware of the overall experience rather than thinking oh, now I smell the vanilla or the musk or whatever. And it lasts! I tried it last night about 8 pm, and now, 14+ hours later, I can still smell a faint powdery green sweetness on the back of my hand--as if all that was left of my encounter with the green fairy was fairy dust. This is gorgeous, and for me, an entirely unexpected pleasure. I like Hellion, and the notes are more "me" but it fades quickly on me. Though this is slightly reminiscent of Dorian in some notes, it is different enough to be unlike anything else I have, and I'm so glad I was able to get part of a bottle. I'll treasure it, and I am happy to be in La Fee Verte's thrall.

In the bottle this is all fruit--honey dew and the others, I suppose, because I'm not entirely sure I know what lychees smell like. Its overwhelmingly fruity, so much so that I didn't want to put it on my skin. But I did. Ack! I smell like a sort of festering melon. Really, really awful. I was quite disappointed because I'd hoped the other notes would overwhelm the melon. Nope. But about 5 minutes later, the scent morphs, and the fruit goes away and I'm left with the vanilla tea that other people noted. Can we say Dorian? Very very like Dorian on me, and I quite like Dorian. The thing is, I have a 10 ml. of Dorian. Do I need Fee too? I'm not convinced I do. And that opening melon note is pretty rough on me. I think I'll have to try it a couple more times to see what I think, but I may have to find a new home for Fee....Still, I'd swapped my Snowbound for it, and I'm glad I got to try it, so its all good. (And anyway, I also got the blissfully delicious Hellion in the mail on the same day, so its a good smellie day for me!

I was so thrilled to get this in the mail before I left for a trip, and I tore into the packy right away, and was delighted to discover I am 9 out of 300. I love Seamus! And Hellion....oh, this could be my best scent ever. Sarada is right--this is the ultimate incense scent. In the bottle I have a really hard time picking out notes--it is like sweet incense, and yes, there is that sweet powdery note that I identify with Nag Champa incense, and while I'm not entirely sure about this, I believe Champaca flower is used in that incense. On, it gets both more spicey and softens. I could have sworn there was cinnamon in it, because it had that level of spice, but there isn't any, and on the second wearing I don't really get a cinnamon note, though there is some spice. I can definately pick out the musk, which is usually sweet and slightly powdery on me. The plum comes out as this dries, and it is that ripe sweet full plum of Red Phoenix, as Sarada noted, and there are some similiarities in the two scents, though I much prefer Hellion (and I like Red Phoenix quite a bit). I adore this, though I do wish it had more throw. Its sticks pretty close to the skin. But I do have a 10 ml. bottle, so I can slather away. As I was packing tonight, I said to the BF, what perfumes shall I bring? Hellion, was his immediate reply, so it is absolutely a success here. Thanks Beth--I adore Hellion!

Hmmm...thought I'd reviewed this before, but I guess not. I've had the Lion before in an imp and swapped it away, so I was glad to get this chance to try it again, though I don't know if the imp will be a keeper or not, because this scent is so faint on me. Not ferocious at all, though it is lovely and golden. Amber for sure, and there is something slightly "dried grass" about this that suits the idea of the savannah. And I agree with everyone who said tea--I get the tea scent too. Its like an amber tea--I mean golden and sweet. I love tea scents, so I do like this aspect of it, but its awfully subtle on me--very much a skin scent, and I'd like it to be out there more. Still, its pretty, and makes me want to drink some tea, so perhaps I'll keep the imp around for a bit. Its beginning to grow on me--I just can't expect the Lion to be an in-your-face sort of blend. Or perhaps if I slathered? Hmmmmm....guess I'll experiment with the imp.

This is totally unlike the description on me, meaning this is a warm, comforting scent. When I opened the imp, I immediately fell in love with that familiar scent, and guessed it right away: frankinscence! I love it! I swiped my arm with it, and was in heaven in that cloud of glorious scent. I pretty much decided on the spot that I'd need two of the Come and See scents: this and Great Sword of War. 20 minutes later? guess I just need the sword. I love resin notes, but for some reason, two of my normal resin faves (frankincense and myhrr) don't work in their BPAL incarnations. Or rather they are just "meh" instead of fabulous on me as they usually are. In this blend, as in Midnight Mass the notes turn into inside of the pencil box on me, so what I'm getting is only a hint of frankiincense sweetness, and mostly that strong woody note that is, perhaps, the sandalwood. I do retain some of the frankincense, and I do like this better than Midnight Mass and some others, but I doubt I'll buy a bottle. The other notes never really show up, which is fine with me.

One of my favorite novellas is katherine Ann Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider, which of course this reminded me of, so I was so looking forward to trying this. And there are many notes I enjoy: pachouli, vetiver, musk, sandalwood.... But when I sniffed the imp, I would never have guessed what was in it. In the imp I smelled herbal sharpness--is that lavender, I wondered? (no, it wasn't, but the scent had a clean sharpness I associate with lavender). I wasn't surprised when I saw mint--that was where the herbal scent was coming from, and the clean sharpness is likely the Yuzu. It stays clean and light on me. I never get pachouli at all, or much vetiver, though there is a greenness in the drydown that is probably vetiver. I can smell the white sandalwood, but that's about it. It is a light herbal scent that for some reason evokes a sword--the sharpness I guess of Yuzu and herbs--more than the Great Sword of War does. Its not a favorite, but not bad either. I'll likely swap away my imp, though.

Ok, that cracked me up, and gave me high hopes for this scent. But oh, that antichrist, he's a tricksy one, and I didn't, sadly, get the same scent at all. In the imp, I sniffed and guessed at notes. Sage? Check. Musk? check. But what is that naggingly familiar scent? Vanilla? Probably, but what else? I was pleased to see I'd guess right, but then I saw leather. Uh oh. Its sad, but BPAL leather almost never works on me--my skin amps it up like crazy too. so I put it on, and for one glorious moment I had the blend everyone was talking about. then it went straight leather. Now smells like all the leather blends do on me--just leather. Sad. Maybe I'll try it on the boyfriend and see if it smells different on him.

I definately see the comparisons to 13--in the bottle this is chocolate and orange, though the mandarin topnote is much brighter than in 13, which is mostly luscious chocolate goodness on me. What I like is how much this illustrates the need to try on the skin--in the imp, its all 13, but on me, wow, how different it is! The mandarin disappears pretty much immediately, and while the sweetness of the cocoa remains, what I mostly get is tea, a lovely sweetened black tea scent, with that slight vanilla-esque note of tonka. Sweet black tea, more muted that what I get from say, Dorian, but quite lovely in its own way. A hint of sweet tobacco. Mmmm....might justify a bottle purchase.

Odd. Not Snow Moon, but how differently, once again, it plays out on different people's skin. I was with Sarada on this--I didn't order Snow Moon because of the florals, esp. the dreaded Narcissus, which in real life (ie. the flowers) smell like dirty socks to me. Its one of my least favorite floral notes. But then I was offered it in a swap (thanks, Sookster) and I read the reviews and all the comparisons to my beloved Skadi, so even though I have Talvikuu and Snow Bunny and Nuclear Winter and hardly needed another winter scent, I'm such a BPAL junkie I decided to try it. I'm glad I did. Like everyone else, it opens pure Skadi/Snow Bunny for me--slush and pine with that grapefruit note, that incidently, I associate not with the fruit but with Ponderosa Pine which smells like then when you crush the needles. So I thought well, not so much different. Then I got a fulll blast of birch, and apparently my skin LOVES birch, because that is the strongest note in here for me. I went to compare it to my birch essential oil, and sure enough, there's that strong spicey, sort of root-beer like note. Birch. (odd to me that the birch as a single note smells like that--like birch beer or sarsparilla--because if you peel a birch tree the bark smell is cool and green and reminds me of cucumbers....) And the scent is pretty consistent after that--a mixture of snow, ponderosa pine, birch. Winter woods with the warms spiciness of the birch--imagine a nice spiced drink while standing in a snowy evergreen forest. No florals--they just never showed up--and the lunacy blend herbs/florals/whatever just blend into that slightly acquatic note that is Beth's snow notes. Its lovely, and on me, quite different from the other winter blends, so I'm delighted to have it.

Slightly aquatic, which always registers as men's aftershave to my nose. Because of that, I call this a slightly masculine scent, though really, that's just my interpretation of aquatic notes. That note, however, does give it a metallic smell, which is interesting. there is something warm in there too....doesn't seem strong enough to be dragon's blood, but who knows? I don't get nearly as much incense as I would like. On me, its a subtle, soft scent, slightly watery. Nice, but not overwhelming, so I'm sending it off to sookster who lurves it!