hackess

I've tried both '04 and '05 and they are identical perfect red roses, covered in dew. I almost want to say they're dusted with snow, because I get a very clean, cold feel from these imps. Wearing it, I feel like Mena Suvari must have felt in the scene from American Beauty. Absolutely beautiful. A must for rose lovers.

Who doesn't love Smut? I put some of the '06 on and held my wrist up to the boyfiend's nose. He grinned and approved. Then I told him what it was named and he said, "You HAVE to get more of that!" So I ordered a bottle of '07; here's hoping it smells the same: sugared dark booze, very smooth and a little mysterious. Smut '06 was NOT the drunk reek that other boozy blends turn into on me; it's sexy and gorgeous. Smut was also not the very masculine scent that most musks become on me. It's primal and warm. ETA: Smut '07 is just as good as its older siblings. This is one of my absolute favorites. Eight hours later and I can still smell it all over my wrists and hair. I feel like I should look disheveled from a recent turn in the sack ETA2: It lasted through TWO showers. Unbelievable. Thank you, Beth, for a perfect scent.

CTIII: MCCXVI (1,216) Imp: Sweet almond cookie dough Wet: Morphing into...cinnamon? Definitely cinnamon. (Please don't let this turn into a ginger snap!) As I inhale more and more of it, I can feel the cinnamon hitting the back of my throat, as if I were sucking on one of those red disk cinnamon hard candies -- it's that pronounced. There's definitely peach and possibly a bit of pumpkin, nutmeg, and cider in this. Drydown: My skin soaks this one up. The throw lasts maybe an hour, but the cinnamon stayed put, and added the tiniest bit of vanilla. The peach and cider are very strong now; it's like Jack without the initial "OMG What IS that" stank. I'm still sniffing my wrist and getting cinnamon, nutmeg and the sweetness of cider. I get wafts of it all day! Edit: I've completely rewritten the above review because I was so, so off the first time. Sometimes, it's nice to be wrong. DCIII (603) Imp: Vaguely citrus, but mostly syrupy sweet. Wet: Ew. Cheap lemon dish detergent. I can taste the soapiness. Drydown: This one lasts even less time. Bizarre. After a minute, it just smells like I washed my hands in a reststop bathroom. Zero throw and no long wear time + a scent I cannot stand = put in the sell/swap pile.

A wonderful antidote to an all-nighter oozing with drunken, addled perversion and debauchery. A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy. (GC - Sin & Salvation) Oooohhhhhhhhh...how calming. It's clean and refreshing without the overpowering ozone that some other crisp scents have (though, I do like Lightning). Imp: It almost wants to turn into baby powder. I had scratch-n-sniff stickers in my youth for Easter that smelled like this: spring and powdery and clean. Wet: Still threatens to go powdery, but instead it's the scent of freshly washed sheets. All I can picture is a Downy commercial and collapsing into a big bed covered in fresh linen. It's not soapy or detergenty, though. Just clean. I've smelled spring breezes like this, the sunny day after a night's rainfall. Dry: There aren't many scents I can sleep with while wearing, but this might be one of them. It almost reminds me of one of the soaps my boyfiend has used in the past. Sadly, these "clean" scents are gobbled up by my skin and don't last all that long. I tossed a few drops into my hair and it neutralized the scent of my shampoo, but that's about it. Verdict?: Imps only. Nice for relaxing me on hectic, hormone-fueled days, but not for me as a regular perfume.

A stirring yet gentle perfume. The scent of love and devotion mingled with an undercurrent of heart-rending sorrow. A bouquet of white roses, labdanum, and wild orchid. (GC - Sin & Salvation) My signature scent! What I love about Magdalene is the labdanum and orchid and how they keep the rose down to just an undertone that only comes out in the drydown. When immediately applied, sometimes I get slightly greener wafts of the labdanum, sometimes they're woodsy and spicy. Sometimes the orchid is most powerful. The woodsy/spicy notes last throughout the scent's lifetime on my skin. Ten minutes after applying, the white rose starts to come out, but it's not anything like Two, Five & Seven or any other rose scent I've tried. It's somber, haunting, like the scent of a funeral bough. What I like about scents like this and Alice is the combination of a gorgeous soft note with something spicy. In Alice, it's spice of carnation and bergamot tempered with rose and creamy milk. Here, it's innocent rose spiked with the exoticness of orchid. It lasts long enough that I don't feel the need to slather myself in it (which doesn't stop me, of course). It's probably not supposed to be sexy, but I feel like a damned goddess when wearing this one. Verdict?: Bottle! Which, according to my CnS tracking, was delivered today! SQUEE! (12/20)

The essence of ambition, covetousness and manipulation: sweet Bordeaux wine, blood red currant, thyme and wild berries. (GC - Illyria) I'm so glad the red wine doesn't really come through in this scent, because reds, even sweet reds like Bordeaux, give me massive headaches. Lady Macbeth is one of my favorite oils and I've gotten so much of it that I've started putting it into lotion. To me, it smells like the seduction of power. There's a hint of that fake berry smell of black cherry candles, but it's sweet without being waxy and cloying and blends with the stronger scent of currants. It's really a beautiful scent. Verdict?: Bottle, eventually.

A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate. (GC - Bewitching Brews) Imp: Creamy milk chocolate. Wet: Ack! That sickening smell of too much melted bittersweet chocolate. It's briefly overpowering but I'm giving it a little time to mellow. Dry: It got a little better. I have this cocoa butter lotion from Jergens or some other Walgreens brand, and it smells exactly like Bliss once it's mellowed. It's nice, and I'll have to see if my boyfiend stays true to his word by not keeping his teeth off tasty-smelling me. Verdict?: Imp only. I won't wear it often enough to warrant a bottle.

I can already tell I'm addicted to rose scents. Two, Five & Seven was one of the first imps I ordered from BPAL almost a year ago. Imp: Roses. Wet: Freshly cut roses. Dry: Sugared roses! I love this. It's not too cloying, and the drydown leaves the roses smelling sweet - not dusty like the potpourri in your grandmother's closet. Has great throw and wear - I usually repply once during the day just because I like being surrounded by the scent.

Antique amber frames a series of distorted, eternally warping clear crystal and glass notes. (LE - Carnival Noir) I got a 5mL of this from happygophucky in a fairly unbalanced swap (I definitely came out ahead!) because she's unable to wear aquatic scents due to asthma. It found a good home! Bottle: Crystalline and a hint of citrus. Wet & Dry: I initially feared the amber note, but it's gorgeous and soft. The crystal notes remind me of the ozone I love in Lightning. Drydown is quick, but I get wafts of it all day and don't feel the need to reapply. Verdict: This one stays on my shelf for when I'm not wearing rose blends.

Lucky enough to get a 5mL of this just the other week from happygophucky as it aggravates her asthma and she wanted a good home for it. It found one! Bottle: Crystalline and a hint of citrus. Wet & Dry: I initially feared the amber note, but it's gorgeous and soft. The crystal notes remind me of the ozone I love in Lightning. Drydown is quick, but I get wafts of it all day and don't feel the need to reapply.

A huge bouquet of squished rose petals: Bulgarian rose, Somalian rose, Turkish rose, Damascus rose, red and white rose, tea rose, wine rose, shrub roses, rose, rose, rose… …and just an itty bitty bit of green grass. (GC - Mad Tea Party) I can already tell I'm addicted to rose scents. Two, Five & Seven was one of the first imps I ordered from BPAL almost a year ago. Imp: Roses. Wet: Roses. Dry: Roses. I love this. It's not too cloying, and the drydown leaves the roses smelling sweet - not like the potpourri in your grandmother's closet. Has great throw and wear - I usually repply once during the day just because I like being surrounded by the scent. Verdict?: Bottle! Need! More! Roses!

Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot. (GC - Mad Tea Party) I got this because I love carnations and roses, and wanted to like the honey notes (though the SN of Honey goes rancid on me). Imp: Lightly floral, threatening to go powdery. Wet: Heavy on the carnation. Surprisingly creamy. Dry: This smells exactly like chai tea on my skin! Pity it fades pretty quickly, because I can't stop sniffing my wrist. I've reapplied twice today because the scent is gone after about two hours. I like this one a lot, but I think I may have to swap it away because it doesn't last. Edit: Forget swapping this away - I'm keeping it and hording more! I'll just have to slather. Verdict?: After the edit, I might need to get myself a bottle of this. LOVE.

I got this because I love carnations and roses, and wanted to like the honey notes (though the SN of Honey goes rancid on me). Imp: Lightly floral, threatening to go powdery. Wet: Heavy on the carnation. Surprisingly creamy. Dry: This smells exactly like chai tea on my skin! Pity it fades pretty quickly, because I can't stop sniffing my wrist. I've reapplied twice today because the scent is gone after about two hours. I like this one a lot, but I think I may have to swap it away because it doesn't last. Edit: The hell was I thinking, "swap it away?" Alice is lovely. This particular imp, which is a different one than I'd first tested from, has something in it that goes more lemony tea than chai - more bergamot than carnation, perhaps? Maybe it's that I've been sniffing Ugh all day.